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[[Category:Musical groups established in 1991]]
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Revision as of 04:32, 17 March 2007

Rage Against the Machine

Rage Against the Machine is a Grammy Award-winning American rock band, noted for their blend of hip hop, hard rock, punk and funk as well as their vocal revolutionary socialist beliefs.

The band split up in 2000, with guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk forming part of the supergroup Audioslave, and vocalist Zack de la Rocha starting a low-key career as a solo artist. In early 2007, reunion performances at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Rock the Bells IV were announced.

Rage drew inspiration from early metallic instrumentation, as well as rap acts such as Public Enemy and Afrika Bambaataa. Their music was based primarily on de la Rocha's rhyming styles and vocals along with their sound, especially Morello's unusual extended guitar techniques.

Band history

Early years (1991–1992)

In 1991, guitarist Tom Morello left his old band, Lock Up, looking to start another band. Morello was in a club in L.A where Zack de la Rocha was rapping. Morello was impressed by de la Rocha's lyric books, and asked him to be vocalist in a band. Morello called and drafted a drummer named Brad Wilk, who had previously auditioned for Lock Up, while de la Rocha convinced his childhood friend Tim Commerford to join as bassist.

The new band named themselves after a song de la Rocha had written for his former band, Inside Out.[1] Kent McClard, with whom Inside Out were associated, claims to have coined the phrase in his zine No Answers.[2]

Shortly after forming, they gave their first public performance in a living room in Orange County, California, where a friend of Tim's was holding a house party. The blueprint for the group's major-label debut album was laid on a twelve-song self-released cassette, the cover image of which was the stock-market with a single match taped to the inlay card. Not all 12 songs made it onto the final album—two were eventually included as B-sides, with the remaining three songs never seeing an official release.[3]

Several record labels expressed interest, and the band eventually signed with Epic Records. Morello said, "Epic agreed to everything we asked—and they've followed through.... We never saw a[n] [ideological] conflict as long as we maintained creative control."[4]

Mainstream success (1992–2000)

File:RATM - live.jpg
RATM is known for its energetic live show

The band's eponymous debut album, Rage Against the Machine, reached triple platinum status, driven by heavy radio play of the song "Killing in the Name", a heavy, driving track repeating six lines of lyrics. The uncensored version, which contains 17 iterations of the word fuck, was once notoriously played on the BBC Radio 1 Top 40 singles show.[5] The album's cover pictured Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, burning himself to death in Saigon in 1963; Quảng Đức was protesting the oppression of Buddhists led by Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm's administration. To promote the album and its core message of social justice and equality, the band went on tour, playing at Lollapalooza II and as support for Suicidal Tendencies in Europe.

After their debut album, the band appeared on the soundtrack for the film Higher Learning with the song "Year of tha Boomerang". An early version of "Tire Me" would also appear during the movie. Subsequently, they recorded an original song, "Darkness", for the soundtrack of The Crow.

Their second album, Evil Empire, entered Billboard's Top 200 chart at number one in 1996. The song "Bulls on Parade" was performed on Saturday Night Live in April 1996. Their planned two-song performance was cut to one song when the band attempted to hang inverted American flags from their amplifiers, a protest against having Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes as guest host on the program that night.

In 1997, on the Japan leg of their tour promoting Evil Empire, a bootleg album composed of the band's B-side recordings titled Live & Rare was released by Sony Records. A live video, also titled Rage Against the Machine, was released later the same year.

The following release, The Battle of Los Angeles also debuted at number one in 1999, selling 450,000 copies the first week and then going double-platinum. That same year the song " Wake Up" was featured on the soundtrack of the film The Matrix. In 2003, the song "Calm Like a Bomb" was featured in the film's sequel, The Matrix Reloaded.

Break-up and subsequent releases (2000–2003)

Renegades, RATM's last studio album

On October 18, 2000, de la Rocha released the following statement:

I feel that it is now necessary to leave Rage because our decision-making process has completely failed. It is no longer meeting the aspirations of all four of us collectively as a band, and from my perspective, has undermined our artistic and political ideal. I am extremely proud of our work, both as activists and musicians, as well as indebted and grateful to every person who has expressed solidarity and shared this incredible experience with us. [6]

Renegades, released shortly after the band's dissolution, was a collection of covers of bands as diverse as Devo, Cypress Hill, Minor Threat, MC5 and Bob Dylan. The following year saw the release of another live video, The Battle of Mexico City.

Following the September 11th attacks, Clear Channel created a list of "songs with questionable lyrics" that included all RATM songs.

A live album titled Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, an edited recording of their last concerts on September 12 and 13, 2000 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, was released in 2003. It was accompanied by an expanded DVD release of the September 13 show, and also included the previously unreleased music video for "Bombtrack".

Post-breakup careers: Audioslave, de la Rocha's solo work and The Nightwatchman (2001–present)

File:Audioslave4.jpg
(L-R): Wilk, Morello and Commerford with Chris Cornell as Audioslave
Main articles: Audioslave, Zack de la Rocha, and The Nightwatchman

After the group's breakup, Morello, Wilk, and Commerford briefly tried to replace de la Rocha in RATM. Rumoured vocalists at the time included Rey Oropeza of downset., Chuck D of Public Enemy, and B-Real of Cypress Hill. However, the band teamed up with former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell to form a new band, Audioslave. The first Audioslave single, "Cochise", was released in early November 2002, and the debut album, Audioslave, followed to mainly positive reviews. Their second album Out of Exile debuted at the number one position on the Billboard charts in 2005. The band released a third album named Revelations on September 5th 2006. The band vowed to have a "one-album-per-year" schedule, but Audioslave's future has been cast into doubt following Cornell's leaving on February 15, 2007.[7]

Meanwhile, de la Rocha had been working on a solo album collaboration with DJ Shadow, Company Flow, and The Roots' ?uestlove,[6] but dropped the project in favour of working with Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor.[8] Recording was completed, but the album will probably never be released.[9] A collaboration between de la Rocha and DJ Shadow, the song "March of Death" was released for free over the World Wide Web in 2003 in protest against the imminent invasion of Iraq,[10] and the 2004 soundtrack Songs and Artists that Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 included one of the collaborations with Reznor, "We Want It All".[8] In late 2005, de la Rocha was seen singing and playing the jarana with Son Jarocho band Son de Madera on multiple occasions.[11]

Morello began his own solo career in 2003, playing political acoustic folk music as The Nightwatchman. He first participated in Billy Bragg's Tell Us the Truth tour[12] with no plans to record,[13] but later recorded a song for Songs and Artists that Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11, "No One Left". In February 2007, he announced a solo album, One Man Revolution, expected in April 2007.[14] The Nightwatchman's first single "Until the End" can be heard on his MySpace page.[15]

Reunion (2007)

Members of the band had been offered large sums of money to reunite for concerts and tours, and had turned the offers down.[16] Rumors of bad blood between de la Rocha and the other former band members subsequently circulated, but Commerford said that he and de la Rocha see each other often and go surfing together, while Morello said he and de la Rocha communicate by phone, and had met up at a September 15, 2005 protest in support of the South Central Farm.[17] Morello and de la Rocha were photographed together at the protest, the first photograph of the two since the band's breakup. [18]

Rumors that Rage Against the Machine could reunite at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival were circulating in mid-January,[19] and were confirmed on January 22.[20] The band is billed to headline the final day of Coachella 2007 on Sunday, April 29.[21] The performance was initially thought to be a one-off,[22] but that was cast into doubt following Chris Cornell's exit from Audioslave.[7] Three more performances are planned as part of Rock the Bells with the Wu-Tang Clan[23] and will be played in New York as well as northern and southern California.

The reunion will primarily be a vehicle to voice the band's opposition to the "right-wing purgatory" the United States has "slid into" under the George W. Bush administration since RATM's dissolution.[24]

Politics

RATM burned the American Flag at the 1999 Woodstock festival

Integral to their identity as a band, Rage Against the Machine voiced revolutionary left-wing viewpoints highly critical of the domestic and foreign policies of the U.S. Throughout its existence, RATM and its individual members participated in political protests and other activism to advocate these beliefs. The band primarily saw its music as a vehicle for social activism. Morello said of wage slavery in America:

America touts itself as the land of the free, but the number one freedom that you and I have is the freedom to enter into a subservient role in the workplace. Once you exercise this freedom you've lost all control over what you do, what is produced, and how it is produced. And in the end, the product doesn't belong to you. The only way you can avoid bosses and jobs is if you don't care about making a living. Which leads to the second freedom: the freedom to starve.[25]

Meanwhile, detractors pointed out the tension between voicing commitment to leftist causes while being signed to Epic Records, a subsidiary of media conglomerate Sony Records. Infectious Grooves released a song called "Do What I Tell Ya!" which mocks lyrics from "Killing in the Name", accusing the band of being hypocrites. In response to such critiques, Morello offered the rebuttal:

When you live in a capitalistic society, the currency of the dissemination of information goes through capitalistic channels. Would Noam Chomsky object to his works being sold at Barnes & Noble? No, because that's where people buy their books. We're not interested in preaching to just the converted. It's great to play abandoned squats run by anarchists, but it's also great to be able to reach people with a revolutionary message, people from Granada Hills to Stuttgart.[4]

EZLN

The flag of the EZLN

The band were vocal supporters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), especially de la Rocha, who has taken trips to the Mexican state of Chiapas to aid their efforts. The flag of the EZLN was also the primary recurring theme in the band's visual art.

Mumia Abu-Jamal

The band were tireless advocates for the release of former Black Panther Death Row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. De la Rocha spoke before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in support of Abu-Jamal on April 12, 1999. RATM wrote and recorded "Voice of the Voiceless" for their 1999 album "The Battle of Los Angeles" to show their support for Mumia and those fighting to have him released. They also performed at a benefit concert with all proceeds donated to the International Concerned Family And Friends Of Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Leonard Peltier

The band also raised funds and awareness for life-sentenced political activist and convicted murderer Leonard Peltier. At their live shows, before playing "Freedom", Zack would often repeat, "It's been 20 years, there's no proof and he's still in jail!" The music video for Freedom also documented the Peltier case.

PMRC protest

File:Lollapaloozaratm.jpg
RATM protesting Parents Music Resource Center

At a 1993 Lollapalooza appearance in Philadelphia, the band stood onstage naked for 15 minutes with duct tape on their mouths and the letters PMRC painted on their chests in protest against censorship by the Parents Music Resource Center. The only sound emitted was audio feedback from Morello and Commerford's guitars. Regarding this event, Wilk said "The first ten minutes they were going nuts, but after ten minutes they were getting pissed."[26] The band later played a free show for disappointed fans.[26]

Want me to be perfectly frank? The size of my penis — that's what was going through my mind in Philadelphia. It looked like I'd just stepped out of the ocean. I swear to God, it's bigger than that. So I was thinking: I wish I'd worn boxer shorts before instead of briefs, because briefs kinda like constrict me. I took them off and it was this ... half-roll of nickels.

— Tim Commerford [27]

I was thinking about how the wind felt underneath my scrotum, what the people in the front were thinking, and all the cameras flashing and what they were going to be thinking as they developed their film. Actually, doing that was no big deal. It didn't freak me out. That's how we all came into the world. It's a liberating thing.

— Brad Wilk, Modern Drummer [26]

"Sleep Now in the Fire" video shoot

On January 26, 2000, filming of the music video for "Sleep Now in the Fire" — directed by Michael Moore — shut down the New York Stock Exchange. The Stock Exchange locked its doors midday in response to fears of crowds gathering to watch the filming.[28] Footage of enthusiastic Wall Street employees headbanging to Rage's music was used in the final video. “We decided to shoot this video in the belly of the beast”, said Moore, who was threatened with arrest during the shooting of the video, despite the band having a federal permit to perform.

2000 Democratic National Convention

Further information: 2000 DNC protest activity

RATM played a free concert at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in protest of the two-party system. The band had been considering playing a protest concert there since April of that year.[29] Although they were at first required by the City of Los Angeles to perform in a small venue at a considerable distance, early in August a United States district court judge ruled that the City's request was too restrictive and the City subsequently allowed the protests and concert to be held at a site across from the DNC.[29] The police response was to increase security measures, which included a 12' fence and patrolling by a minimum of 2,000 officers wearing riot gear, as well as additional horses, motorcycles, squad cars and police helicopters.[30] A police spokesperson said they were "gravely concerned because of security reasons".[30]

During the concert, de la Rocha said to the crowd, "brothers and sisters, our democracy has been hijacked,"[29] and later also shouted "we have a right to oppose these motherfuckers!"[31] After the performance, a small group of attendees congregated at the point in the protest area closest to the DNC, facing the police officers, throwing rocks,[32] and possibly engaging in more violent activity, such as throwing glass, concrete and water bottles filled with "noxious agents,"[33] spraying ammonia on police and slingshotting rocks and steel balls.[34] The police soon after declared the gathering an unlawful assembly,[31] shut off the electrical supply, interrupting performing band Ozomatli,[32] and informed the protestors that they had 20 minutes to disperse on pain of arrest.[35] Some of the protestors remained, however, including two young men who climbed the fence and waved black flags, who were subsequently shot in the face with pepper spray.[34] Police then forcibly dispersed the crowd, using tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets.[34] At least six people were arrested in the incident.[35]

The police faced severe and broad criticism for their reaction, with an American Civil Liberties Union spokesperson saying that it was "nothing less than an orchestrated police riot."[33] Several primary witnesses reported unnecessarily violent actions and police abuses, including firing on reporters[32] and people obeying police commands[35]. Police responded that their response was "outstanding" and "clearly disciplined."[35] De la Rocha said of the incident, "I don't care what fucking television station said the violence was caused by the people at the concert, those motherfuckers unloaded on this crowd. And I think it's ridiculous considering, you know, none of us had rubber bullets, none of us had M16s, none of us had billy clubs, none of us had face shields."[36]

Footage of the protest and ensuing violence, along with an MTV News report on the incident, was included in the Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium DVD.

Other activism

Some other controversial stands taken include that of the music video for the song "Bombtrack," in which RATM expresses support for the Peruvian guerilla organization Shining Path and their incarcerated leader Abimael Guzmán. Over its career, the band played benefit concerts for organisations such as Rock for Choice, the Anti-Nazi League, the United Farm Workers, children's care organisation Para Los Niños and UNITE.[37] The band also raised funds for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico, Women Alive, and played at the Tibetan Freedom Concert on more than one occasion.[37] Album liner notes contained promotional material for AK Press, Amnesty International, the Comittee to Support the Revolution in Peru, the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic, Indymedia, Mass Mic, Parents for Rock and Rap, the Popular Resource Center, RE: GENERATION, Refuse and Resist, Revolution Books, the Rock & Rap Confidential, and Voices in the Wilderness.

Discography

Main article: Rage Against the Machine Discography

Studio albums:

Awards

Grammy Awards:
MTV Video Music Awards:

On May 4th, 2006 "Bulls on Parade" entered VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs at #15.

RATM lyrics and quotations have become popular as protest slogans

The phrase rage against the machine, used as a verb or noun phrase indicating rebellion, has become prevalent in popular culture with the band's success. On a podcast of The Ricky Gervais Show, Stephen Merchant joked that Gervais was "raging against the machine" when he wore a t-shirt with Bullshit written on it as a teenager. In another example, a conversation with one of the NPCs in the game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines contains the dialogue option, "So how long have you guys raged against the machine?"

The Simpsons has passed references to both the band and the phrase; In one episode, Bart says that his t-shirt, adorned with "Adults suck, then you are one," expresses his "rage at the machine",[38] and in a later episode Bart says that he "raged against the machine and money poured out" after destroying school vending machines.[39]

The phrase has also seen some popularity in politics. Raj Pannu led the Alberta, Canada social democratic party, the Alberta New Democrats, to a successful 2001 re-election under the slogan "Raj Against the Machine".[40]

The band have also been popular enough to be referenced in musical parody and tribute albums. The band's name is parodied in that of the comedy band, Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine. That group's album Lounge Against the Machine contains a lounge version of the song "Guerrilla Radio". The "Weird Al" Yankovic album Straight Outta Lynwood contains the song "I'll Sue Ya", which he states is a parody of Rage Against the Machine's musical style.[41] He also parodied "Renegades of Funk" in his song "Angry White Boy Polka", from the album Poodle Hat. Two various artists tribute albums were released, Freedom: A Tribute to Rage Against the Machine in 2001 and the Spanish language album Tributo a Rage Against the Machine En Español in 2005. Additionally, A Tribute to Rage Against the Machine, a knock-off labelled a "tribute" recorded by anonymous session musicians, was released in 2003.

See also

Notes and citations

  1. ^ Myers, Ben (October 16, 1999), Hello, Hello... ...It's Good To Be Back, Kerrang!. Retrieved February 27, 2007.
  2. ^ McClard, Kent, History of Ebullition Records. Retrieved February 19, 2007
  3. ^ Woodlief, Mark. "Rage Against the Machine". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved 2007-01-07. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  4. ^ a b Rage Against the Machine FAQ, Internet Archive cache of FAQ on the official Rage Against the Machine website. Retrieved February 17, 2007
  5. ^ Robinson, John (January 29, 2000). "The Revolution Will Not be Trivialised". NME. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  6. ^ a b Armstrong, Mark (October 18, 2000). "Zack de la Rocha Leaves Rage Against the Machine". MTV News. Retrieved 2007-02-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b Harris, Chris (February 15, 2007). "Chris Cornell Talks Audioslave Split, Nixes Rumors Of Soundgarden Reunion". MTV News. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  8. ^ a b Moss, Corey (May 10, 2005). "Reznor Says Collabos With De La Rocha, Keenan May Never Surface". MTV News. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
  9. ^ Gargano, Paul (October 2005). "Nine Inch Nails (interview)". Maximum Ink Music Magazine. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
  10. ^ Zack de la Rocha.com, official website promoting "March of Death". Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  11. ^ "King of Rage Onstage Again" (February 2006), Spin.
  12. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (October 22, 2003). "Tom Morello Rages Against A New Machine On Solo Acoustic Tour". MTV News. Retrieved 2007-02-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Moss, Corey (July 29, 2004). "Audioslave's Morello Says New LP Feels Less Like Soundgarden + Rage". MTV News. Retrieved 2007-02-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Harris, Chris (February 6, 2007). "Nightwatchman, Rage Reunion Have Morello Fired Up For Political Fights". MTV News. Retrieved 2007-02-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ The Nightwatchman on MySpace. Retrieved February 23, 2007.
  16. ^ "Chris Cornell Working on Solo Release - But Dismisses Rumors of Audioslave Split". MTV News. MTV.com. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
  17. ^ Rockline interviews Audioslave. August 29, 2006. Free recording of interview.
  18. ^ Photo of de la Rocha with Morello and photographer's comments
  19. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (January 19, 2007). "Morello Goes Solo, Rage To Reunite?". Billboard. Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-01-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Boucher, Geoff (January 22, 2007). "Rage Against the Machine will reunite for Coachella". Los Angeles Times. LATimes.com. Retrieved 2007-01-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ Finn, Natalie (January 22, 2007). "Rage On at Coachella". E! News. EOnline.com. Retrieved 2007-01-24.
  22. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (January 22, 2007). "Rage, Bjork, Chili Peppers Sign On For Coachella". Billboard. Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-01-24.
  23. ^ First reported in the LA Times: Boucher (February 24, 2007). "Rage Against the Machine adds more dates". LA Times. Retrieved 2007-02-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "first-Geoff" ignored (help) Later confirmed on RATM's official website: Official website. Retrieved on February 27, 2007).
  24. ^ "Rage Against The Machine discuss reunion". NME. February 2, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-03.
  25. ^ Young, Charles M. (February 1997), Tom Morello: Artist of the Year interview, Guitar World. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  26. ^ a b c Micallef, Ken (March 1996), Rage Against The Machine's Brad Wilk, Modern Drummer. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  27. ^ Devenish, Colin (2001), Rage Against the Machine: St. Martin's Griffin ISBN 0-312-27316-6
  28. ^ Basham, David (January 28, 2000). "Rage Against The Machine Shoots New Video With Michael Moore". MTV News. Retrieved 2007-02-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ a b c Asch, Andrew (August 15, 2000). "Rage Wage Battle of Los Angeles at DNC". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-02-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. ^ a b "Protest concert due tonight outside convention: Security tight in Los Angeles". CNN. August 14, 200. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  31. ^ a b Bleyer, Jennifer (August 15, 200). "LAPD unleashes horses-pepper spray-rubber bullets". Scoop Independent News. Indymedia. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  32. ^ a b c York, Anthony (August 15, 200). "Rage against the cops". Salon.com Politics. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  33. ^ a b White, Jerry (August 17, 200). "Los Angeles police attack protesters at Democratic convention". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  34. ^ a b c "Convention opens to protests, rubber bullets". CNN. August 15, 200. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  35. ^ a b c d "Police defend use of pepper spray, rubber bullets at Democratic Convention protest". CNN. August 15, 200. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  36. ^ Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium DVD, Grand Olympic Auditorium performance, part of de la Rocha's speech.
  37. ^ a b Rage Against the Machine: A Time Line, timeline of RATM's career, official website. Retrieved Fenruary 19, 2007.
  38. ^ "Fat Man and Little Boy", The Simpsons. Original airdate December 12, 2004.
  39. ^ "The Heartbroke Kid", The Simpsons. Original airdate May 1, 2005.
  40. ^ Moroz, Ross. "Dr Raj Pannu retires (the Machine, presumably, keeps on running)". Vue Weekly. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  41. ^ "Weird Al unleashes his new album with a Bill Plympton Video DON'T DOWNLOAD THIS SONG!!!". Ain't It Cool News. 2006-09-11. Retrieved 2007-02-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

References

Devenish, Colin (2001), Rage Against the Machine: St. Martin's Griffin ISBN 0-312-27316-6

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